Nominated FIlms

2021 Nominated Films

All films will be screened at the Albert A. White Performing Arts Theater in
the East Lansing Hannah Community Center
819 Abbot Road East Lansing, MI 48823

Nominated Best Feature Films

The Big Ugly
Directed by: Scott Wiper
Description: Anglo-American relations go bad when London mob bosses invest in a West Virginia oil deal in hopes of laundering dirty money.

Small Town Wisconsin
Directed by: Niels Mueller
Description: After losing a custody battle, perpetual teenager Wayne Stobierski steals his son away for one last father-son weekend to the city of their dreams - Milwaukee, Wisconsin. What's supposed to be a light-hearted adventure, transforms into a journey of profound redemption.

Nominated Best Documentary Films

The water Bird Counter
Directed by: Rusty Malkemes
Description: Tim Baerwald talks the importance of collecting data to establish patterns. The data is essential to have informed discussions on how development can effect our environment. His focus is typically on waterbirds. In this video we get a glimpse of the effort it takes to collect data during the fall waterbird migration in southwest Michigan.

The Girl Who Wore Freedom
Directed by: Christian Taylor
Description: Discover the untold stories of D-Day from the men, women, and children who lived through German occupation and Allied liberation of Normandy, France. Powerful and deeply personal, THE GIRL WHO WORE FREEDOM tells the stories of an America that lived its values, instilling a pride in country that is in danger of becoming a relic of the past.

Nominated Best Short Films

Bequeathed
Directed by: Michael McCallum
Description: A man is given a package that his recently deceased Father wanted him to have.

Flush Lou
Directed by: Madison Stewart Leonard
Description: A daughter, mother and grandmother mourn the loss of their beloved, Lou Ackerly after he is accidentally cremated.

Alice
Directed by: Andrew C. Ramirez
Description: A new proprietary smart home device, ALICE, is always listening to make life easier. When a naive Annabelle searches for romance via a new dating app, she finds an unearthly attractive and peculiar lover. Is luck the matchmaker or is ALICE?

Un Hombre Debe Aprender (A Man Must Learn)
Directed by: Jeff Bomberger
Description: Amidst the COVID-19 pandemic an American man with Cuban heritage must learn to speak Spanish if he wants to eat in quarantine.

Nominated Best Student Films

Bru'dhars
Directed by: Sriram Papolu
Description: Through his tumultuous relationship with his younger brother, a young man begins to understand the troubled past that was running his life and has a chance to end a generational cycle of abuse and pain.

Smile
Directed by: Brenna Noyes
Description: Smile is a short psychological thriller. It focuses on Lydia, a young girl whose boyfriend went missing. When his mother confronts Lydia about the last time she saw him, a whirlwind of memories rushes in and her sense of reality begins to blur.